Evaluation of Implementing Thermoelectric Materials as a Power Generator

Date

2016-05

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Abstract

The challenge of finding new energy sources or improving the efficiency of machines has become an important priority to scientists. A huge portion of provided energy becomes waste in the form of thermal energy. This fact sets the stage to look at recovering this wasted heat by Direct Heat-to-Electricity Conversion. Thermoelectric materials provide the opportunity to convert heat to electricity by thermoelectric generators (TEGs), which work under the Seebeck Effect. In this study, we focused on two less developed applications of TEGs. First, the feasibility of exciting High Temperature Superconductor coils by means of a TEG has been investigated. In this study, a physical model of the system in Simscapeā„¢/MATLAB has been prepared. Second, we focused on energy recovery from the waste heat source in cylindrical shaped equipment. An analytical approach has been served to offer the relation between geometrical variables or thermoelectric properties, and the maximum output power of Tubular Thermoelectric Generators (TTEGs).

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Keywords

Thermoelectrics, Tubular thermoelectric, Thermoelectric generators (TEG), TTEG, Seebeck effect, Energy harvesting, Energy recovery, Heat recovery, HTS, Simscape, TTEGs

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